(i) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a liquid detergent composition. More particularly, the invetion relates to liquid detergent compositions containing anionic surface active agents and water-insoluble fine powder, in which said water-insoluble fine powder has stably been dispersed, said composition being characterized by containing therein cross linking type amphoteric polymers and inorganic salts.
(ii) Description of the Prior Art
Heretofore it has often been practiced that water-insoluble fine powder is dispersed in liquid detergent compositions in order to impart a pearlescent appearance to the compositions or to enhance the commercial value of the compositions by mixing said compositions with special medicinal agents, sterilizers, suspending agents, etc.
The followings are indispensable requisites to stable dispersion of water-insoluble fine powder in liquid detergent compositions.
(1) The dispersed fine powder should not be coagulated, and PA0 (2) the dispersion system should have a high yield value.
Examples of the systems which meet the above requisites include a system having extremely high viscosity and a thixotropic system showing non-Newtonian flow. However, when the former system is applied to prepare liquid detergents, the resulting detergents have such drawbacks that they are difficult to use because they have poor fluidity and, particularly in winter, they don't flow out of the containers. Under such circumstances, various researches have been prosecuted on processes for obtaining liquid systems of non-Newtonian flow, and as a typical prior art in this field, Japanese Patent Publication No. 49117/1974 may be cited.
The publication discloses that water-insoluble fine powder can stably be dispersed in a compound system comprising an anionic surface active agent, an organic group-substituted amine salt and a water-soluble polyacrylic acid when said system is adjusted to pH 6-8 with ammonia, ethanolamine, etc. However, the liquid detergent composition according to the above-mentioned compound system was found to be still disadvantageous in properties such as foamability, by reason that triethanolamine or the like is used as a counter ion to the anionic surface active agent. With the view of improving the detergent foaming property of this detergent composition, a part of water-soluble polyacrylic acid counter ion was replaced with sodium, whereupon the yield value of said liquid detergent composition became almost zero, with the result that the water-insoluble fine powder separated from the system and no satble dispersion system of the water-insoluble fine powder was obtained.
Accordingly, the fact was that no desired liquid detergent compositions were obtained hitherto, said compositions comprising alkali metal salts or the like of anionic surfactants as active detergent ingredients and dispersing stably therein water-insoluble fine powder.